Change Of Plans

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. - Ephesians 3:20

From the time I was in the sixth grade until I graduated high school, I knew I wanted to be a Spanish teacher. Once it came time for me to start looking at colleges, there were two schools in the state of Georgia that had the program I was looking for: the University of North Georgia and Kennesaw State University.

Kennesaw was too close to home - I didn’t want to live at home during college (as stated in section two of my life plan). Don’t get me wrong, I love my family and I loved my home, but I wanted the full college experience, which in my mind included the independence that came with dorm life. So I decided to attend North Georgia, which was exactly one hour and fifteen minutes from my parents' house. The perfect distance to justify dorm living, but also close enough to home where I could bring my laundry with me on weekend visits.

All things seemed to be going according to plan as I was accepted to UNG and moved into my dorm in August of 2011. The first few weeks of classes were great as I made new friends, learned the ins and outs of the dining hall, and spent more time at Starbucks than I ever had before.

One particular afternoon in September, I ordered my usual grande mocha frappuccino with no whipped cream, found an empty table upstairs, and pulled out my laptop. After checking my Facebook, I went to UNG’s website and found my degree plan. As is normal for the planner I am, I wanted to get an idea of what my class schedule would look like over the next four years. (I know. What a nerd, right?) I navigated to the Foreign Language department’s website and scrolled down until I saw Secondary Spanish Education. But once I found what I was looking for, my stomach dropped. Next to where my major was listed on my computer screen were these words:

Discontinued as of January 1.

I’m sorry…what? How in the world could this be happening? I chose this school for this major. They were known for their foreign language program. How could they just up and cancel my major? And not only that - how could they cancel it and not tell me?

I threw my computer back in my bag, grabbed my frappuccino, and booked it across campus to the foreign language office. Within 15 minutes I had the department head and three professors trying to calm me down. We talked for almost an hour before they put together an alternative plan. I could double major in Secondary Education and Spanish, but I would be in school for at least one extra year. Not to mention my scholarship would run out by the end of my fourth year so all tuition and fees would have to come out of my pocket. And I’d have to take a bunch of extra classes I didn’t need. It may have been a plan, but it wasn’t a good one.

I walked out of the office that day so discouraged. Everything had fallen into place so well, only to fall apart so soon. But now that I look back on that season of my life, I can see that my plan falling apart caused so many pieces of God’s plan to fall together.

You see, making the decision to transfer back home to Kennesaw State impacted so much more than just my college major. It changed my entire career path. It led me into ministry. It reunited me with my best friend. It put me in a much better financial situation. It allowed me to spend more time with my family. The list goes on and on. But none of those things would have happened the way they did if I hadn’t first faced that disappointing day of finding out my major had been discontinued.

I share this story because I want to encourage you if you’re also in the midst of disappointment. If you had a plan, and that plan isn’t working out. If you had a trajectory set in place, but now everything is changing. If you had goals and dreams, and you’re realizing nothing is going to pan out the way you expected. I know it’s hard. I know it’s discouraging. And I know it’s easy to ask, “What in the world are you doing, Lord? And what am I supposed to do now?”

All I can say is that the only thing you need to do next is trust Him. Choose to believe that He has your best interest at heart. Have faith that His ways and His plans are higher and better than yours. And trust that He can and He will do immeasurably more than anything you’ve ever asked for. Sure, your life might not turn out the way you expected, but it might just turn out even better.